Last week, Westpac hoisted its lending rate by 20 basis points in a bid to recover the costs of recent capital raisings. There is speculation other banks will follow. Australia’s non-bank lenders could…

A budget without bite for tackling a shortfall of homes.
FreddieBrownJuly 9, 2015

I co-teach a freshman seminar at the University of Texas called “Debt: the Good, Bad and Ugly” that examines the different ways consumers borrow and spend. Do they reflect wise investments in the future…

First home buyers looking to break into the housing market are turning to their parents, but it's not a risk-free proposition for either party.

Lending standards are so tight that even former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, center, who until recently was one of the most powerful people in the world, can’t refinance his mortgage.
ReutersNovember 3, 2014

It’s clear mortgage standards have gotten too tight when even a former Federal Reserve chairman who makes as much as US$250,000 per speech cannot refinance his home. Ben Bernanke complained about his inability…

Is our thinking on house prices blurred by irrationality?
Kesu/ShutterstockOctober 2, 2014

The latest house price index figures released by RP Data earlier this week show a year-on-year increase in property values in Sydney of 14.3%. This has sparked the current hot debate on property prices…

Dealing with housing bubbles can get messy for central banks.
ShutterstockSeptember 25, 2014

Australia’s central bank has formally flagged the use of macroprudential tools to address what it called “unbalanced” lending in its most recent Financial Stability Review. Loan-to-valuation ratio (LVR…

Heightened competition among home lenders has prompted the banking regulator to issue a reminder of what constitutes prudent lending, but its suggestion that loans being generated by mortgage brokers should…

An increasing number of consumers choose a broker over going direct to a bank for their home loan.
Dan Peled/AAPApril 14, 2014

Over 40% of mortgages in Australia are sold by mortgage brokers, not by their manufacturers - an issue that has the CEO of Australia’s fifth largest bank, Suncorp, arguing the sector is skewed towards…

Credit makes us and credit breaks us – ancient Roman debtors cut into pieces by their angry creditors under the law of the Twelve Tables knew it, as does ASIC, tasked with regulating the many mortgage…

The US has wasted its “sub-prime” mortgage crisis. The story of how and why this has happened is of interest not only for its own sake, but for the broader themes it reveals. I am a theoretically trained…

Coles is believed to have applied for an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution licence, which would allow it to take deposits.
AAPSeptember 19, 2013

The news that Coles may be seeking a banking licence would, if confirmed, put the supermarket group and its parent company Wesfarmers in direct competition with Australia’s major banks. It would allow…

The proportion of renters is now roughly equal to the numbers of outright home owners.
Image from www.shutterstock.comSeptember 8, 2013

For all our talk about housing affordability, few people want house prices to drop. That’s because most Australians are home owners, and much of our wealth is stored in housing. But recent figures released…